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Interview: Jasper Gerard meets Bill Nighy

The drugs didnt work  wrinkles did the trick

Perhaps it was a silly question: would he care for something to eat? “That’s kind,” Bill Nighy replies. “But I’ve just had breakfast.” For the rest of us, it’s some time after tea.

But then the actor and retired roué is not your “rise before dawn for tantric yoga” sort of guy. The word “wasted” might have been minted for Nighy, 54, who during years of rollicking drug and alcohol abuse learnt more about hazardous chemicals than a United Nations weapons inspector. The surprise is that as his languorous frame sags, his reputation rockets.

He stole the show from seriously stellar names in Love Actually when, fittingly, he played a washed-up rocker, and is nominated for another Bafta for his portrayal of an editor in State of Play. Suddenly he is the actor à la mode, fawned over by Parky, drooled over by Sue Lawley on Desert Island Discs. For women